Tank Char can't handle his beatstick! Help!

[MustacheFart]

Hey guys,

So, I'm playing in a once a week campaign and I'm having some trouble with my character.

Originally, I made a ranged fighter for kicks (for all intents and purposes a ranger). There are 2 other players in the campaign. I thought one of them was going to roll a fighter (guy still new to DnD who just like beatsticks) but he actually decided to help balance out the group and went sorcerer (really bad caster). Our other player rolled a rogue (world's worst rogue). So....yah we have no tank!


Once again, I am forced to play the tank. However, to have a little fun I decided to try and convert him to a Gattsu (from Bezerk) of sorts. Now we are playing 3.5 with basically core books only, anything else has to be approved by our DM.

We started off at level 4 and I looked like this:

lvl 4 Human Character named Sid Vicious (Ya I know I should have made him a bard lol)
1 lvl Barbarian/2 lvls Ranger/1 lvl Fighter

Stats:

-DM had us distribute stats of 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8

Str: 17 - 1 point from character lvl 4
Dex: 18
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 8
Cha: 12

Saves:

Fort: 9
Ref: 7
Will: -1

We had starting gold which I think was 5400 gp. I had a falchion and a Comp. Long bow as well as a chain shirt.

Anyway, early on while I was actually investigating something related to the story at the inn, the rogue and sorcerer were at the tavern. They saw a bastard sword hanging from the mantle. Now, they did detect magic but the DM conveniently left out the part that it had an incredibly strong aura. Well, the rogue steals it. Our DM loves such opportunities so you can probably guess where this is going. It ends up being a cursed bastard sword that equates to a -5 bastard sword. The rogue tries to get rid of it but it's bound to him. There's runes on the side that appear telling of a story to unlock its power. Well, the sorcerer shapes it to looks like a stick just as I arrive.

They try to get me to take it but I actually see through the disguise and say no. So then for a few sessions the rogue constantly bitched because all of his melee attacks suffered a -9 penalty (-5 from wep and -4 for being nonproficient). Obviously in all fairness that was too much for a lvl 4 character. The DM was going to lighten it up some but I decide **** it, instead of hearing him bitch I'll willingly take the responsiblity (who knows it may pay off). So, I take it and suffer a -5 to attacks (I'm proficient with bastard swords, 2handedly at least) and with a decent str (rogue had 0 str mod) it didn't seem to much of a drawback. ...Huh what a dumbass I was. Oh did I mention that it has a 20% chance to come out any time I make an attack? Ya...the rogue bitched enough about this so much the dm was going to lower the chance. It wasn't too big of a deal for me when it came out...at least when I remembered to roll for it (hah DM wasn't remembering so I'm not gonna punish myself for forgetting).

Anyway to wrap this up, 3 levels have passed (actually 4 as I just leveled earlier tonight) and I'm stuck with this thing. I don't want to get rid of it because I've already worked towards unlocking its power. However, to completely unlock it I'll need to defeat a CR 18 black dragon with 500 odd hps..-_- At level 8/9 that ain't going to happen yet. The dragon keeps seeking me out but we manage to escape against my will because my character keeps trying to fight it anyway with me going, "BAH I'll slay it single-handedly" but the DM knows I'd be killing my character and he doesn't want to lose the tank. Gotta love throwing that in his face lol.

Now my character looks like this:

lvl 1 Barbarian/lvl 2 Ranger/lvl 5 Fighter

HP: 88 (104 raging)

Stats:

Str: 17
Dex: 18
Con: 15
Int: 10
Wis: 8
Cha: 12

AC: 23 (10 + 8 armor + 4 dex + 1 natural armor)
Touch: 14
Flat-Footed: 19
Initiative: 8
DR: 1/-

Saves:
Fort: 12
Ref: 8
Will: 0

BAB: 8/3

Bonus Damage(DM gave free to barb/fighter, progresses every level except every 5th level) - 5

Skills:
Jump 10
Hide 13
Move Silently 9
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 8
Climb 8
Tumble 11
Survival 8
Intimidate 6
Spot 7

Attack: Bonus Damage Crit

Masterwork Comp. Longbow +13/+8 1d8 + 3 + 5 x3

-5 Cursed Bastard Sword +6/+1 1d10 + 4 + 5 19-20/x2

Armor:

Mithral Full plate (DM said gives +4 dex cap...it should be +3 but **** I wasn't gonna correct him lol) - looted it off a half dragon

Feats:

Rapid Shot (ranger)
Improved Init
Great Fortitude (prereq for str of blood)
Power Attack
Quick Draw (DM gave free to rangers)
Toughness (prereg str of blood)
Thick Skin (prereq str of blood) - +1 Natural armor
Thick Skull (prereq str of blood) - DR 1/-
Strength of Blood - Max Hit points at every level, got this at level 6 after I became team tank

Anyway, so I haven't really be able to do ****. I had another weapon but the cursed sword seemed to come out so often that my character gave his falchion to a kid so he could train to protect the remnants of his village.

I can't seem to hit worth a shat, the DM throws stuff with either huge AC, huge DR, or Huge regen. Basically, I sit there and take damage...when we DON'T even have a cleric. We had an npc dwarf cleric help us out in a dungeon a couple levels ago but SOL since.

I am basically bored out of my mind. I mean there's some stuff for my character roleplaying wise ( I made DM read up on berzerk and he's implemented a curse mark on myself...rather I have but its just story no real tangible effects like in berzerk) but little to do in fights.

Not to mention, the sorcerer in my party keeps only taking damage dealing spells and not that good of ones to boot. So, with no status effects (hold person, web, anything) he's little benefit to me aside from just damage. The rogue player is so frigging stupid he just runs from fights and then complains later that the dm didn't give him a way to sneak attack. I spent many a session trying to explain feint and other tricks in the rogues arsenal to no avail. In fact his pussyness (wouldn't even provide a flank for me...basically just ran away from every fight and complained afterwards) was hurting the party and wearing so thin on me that I erased his memory, told him he was couragous...on a path of revenge against orcs and dragons (main enemy cuz DM implemented what I picked for favored enemy and I rolled)...blah blah blah, and even caused his alignment to **** to neutral good. Even after all of that he STILL acts super cowardly and is no use to the game.

The game started as a dungeon crawl because that same player wanted to do a dungeon crawl but then complained of his uselessness and tiredness of dungeons shortly after we started...-_-




Now, after this long post...most of it a rant, I'm looking for suggestions/ideas? My character just got put in jail by a traitor to the city who came out and casted hold person on myself and the wizard (tough stuff lol) while we fought 3 CR 11 Trolls.

I have only a 8 friggin wisdom but I've had to play like I have an 18 character role-playing wise because my comrades are stupid (even the rogue with an 18 wis). I'm team leader, team strategist, team face (even though not built for it), team tank....and pretty much anything that needs to get done, I make sure if I can't do it that one of them do it. All the responsibility doesn't seem to be paying off.

So, I'm level 9, naked, stuck in jail, and don't what to do (class wise, game wise, every wise). I'd like to be able to do some good damage and still be able to tank (not sword and board though). Sort of how Gutz fights.Any suggestions? Thanks in advance guys!



P.S. - Anyway to kill a CR 18 Dragon before the average character level of party is even 10?

[BobVosh]

How are you naked? Shouldn't you have that sword? Beyond that, if you can give the sword away, why doesn't the wizard take it? Let him hold it while casting.

[MustacheFart]

How are you naked? Shouldn't you have that sword? Beyond that, if you can give the sword away, why doesn't the wizard take it? Let him hold it while casting.

They stripped the wizard and I of our gear before putting us in prison! Of course all I need to do is keep swinging my fist until the sword's effect procs (no matter where the put it) and it returns to me.

The wizard could hold it...but he's so stupid he damn near gets killed every session...this time he just got choked unconcious. Since there are a number of evil parties who want the sword I felt it safest with me.

[Harp]

I generally try to be more helpful, but it sounds like you are seriously screwed my friend. Your team does not seem to have the ability to back you up, your character is stuck against huge odds, and you as the only seemingly proficient character is stuck with a cursed sword you won't have a chance of realistically unlocking for the next 5 levels or so.

Since you can't hit anything anyways, get a Tower Shield and use that with your Bastard Sword until further notice. You'll take a -2 penalty to attacks, but it sounds like that doesn't matter anyways. That will at least make you a little better at soaking attacks which seems your primary responsibility atm.

The next level you get, take it as a Sorcerer so you can cast True Strike, which will actually let you hit things thanks to its +20 attack bonus (which should be combined with Power Attack for extra evilness). Your massive arcane spell failure will prevent you from doing this with any kind of success, but fortunately, wands do not suffer from that problem. Buy a wand or two of True Strike and you will be hitting things my friend, I promise you. Keep in mind you will be able to use up to any 4th level Sorcerer spell provided you have the gold, so consider wanding other spells of use like Color Spray, Alter Self (turn into a lizardman), Blink, Improved Invisibility, and the god-like but very expensive Stoneskin.

When it comes time to fight the dragon, you will have to do it on your terms. Figure out where his lair is by having your buddy wizard cast divinations, or pay an NPC to do it. While he might have a trap or two, the advantage of taking him on in his lair is he forfeits his horde if he runs (something a dragon wouldn't do 99% of the time) and the immediate environs typically limit the dragon's mobility. Unfortunately it's more than likely he keeps it underwater, but by that level purchasing some underwater breathing gear that shouldn't be too much of an advantage.

Ward yourself against Acid damage and with Protection from Evil so you can actually approach the thing without getting hit with fear. If you follow my advice with the Sorcerer build you'll be able to use a Blink wand which'll limit the amount of hits he's going to be able to put on you thanks to a 50% miss chance (because in a straight fight he'll cream you, even without the obnoxiously cursed weapon). Hopefully your weapon's curse will deactivate for the fight, but don't count on it. Make sure the party wizard enchants it with Greater Magic Weapon before the fight so it will break the DR.

[Bosh]

In D&D 3.5ed you don't really need a tank since there's no mechanism to make the critters focus on the tank (like taunt thingies in MMORPGs). Often the best defense is the best offense and you'd be better off focusing on lots of damage and killing the enemies before they can kill you.

Also have the sorc get some summoning spells once he gets a few levels under his belt, they're great for spontaneous casters since they're so multi-purpose and have him cast them before the fight starts.

[Eldariel]

The big question is, can you retrain or can you not? In basically Core-only environment, the only real way to build a decent melee combatant is to get a Power Attack Tripper with a reach weapon, or a Mounted Charger. And even both of those are one-trick bodies; melee is just really boring and weak in Core. Strength of Blood just isn't worth the prerequisites - 4 feats could do so much more (and Toughness, Thick Skin and Thick Skull are all crappy, with Thick Skin being the best of the bunch). Anyways, Bosh is kind of wrong - the game does have mechanisms for tanking, it just doesn't spell it out for you like MMORPGs. Tripping is a very classical means of melee control, as is Stand Still (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#standStill). Just get a big reach and stop opponents while clobbering them senseless. That's the real role of the Fighter, but hardly any less boring - if I wasn't allowed to play a ToB melee combatant (which aren't boring since they have more than just one option), I'd just play a caster. Of course, Gattsu never cast a spell, but Gattsu had more than one type of an attack too; I'd probably want ToB to portray him. As it stands, your character would benefit the party so much more by being a Druid- or a Cleric-tank (healing, buff spells, summons, area control melee and huge damage; oh, and if Druid, a secondary character + nice number of skillpoints for Diplomacy and whatever). Anyways, that's not necessary if the rest of them start to pull off their weight.

I'll bet it's annoying to have a team like that too. Try to get the Rogue to learn the wonders of Use Magic Device and have him wield Wand of Grease (anything without 5 ranks in Balance is Flat-Footed while Balancing and thus Sneakable), Wand of Invisibility, Wand of Divine Power, Wand of Cure Light Wounds (you'd really need that for out-of-combat healing), etc. That'd make 'er much more useful and improve your party overall. Of course, just Hiding constantly and FLANKING should also get the Sneak Attacks.

As for the Sorcerer, tell him how there's no style in simple damage and how it'd be much cooler for him to do the "use minimal power to disable enemies"-shtick. Remember that opponents that can't defend themselves can simply be Coup de Graced, so it's effectively the same as killing them, just with far less effort and far more benefit to the team.


As for the Dragon, depends on the colours. Red/Metallic Dragon? I think you're boned. Any other colour? It might be doable - get Dust of Sneezing and Choking and abuse the hell out of it (it's disabled for 5d4 turns even on a successful save - just go beat the hell out of it while it's coughing).

[Demons_eye]

If you look in the line of making a enchanment a true strike weapon would only be like 1000?

[Bandededed]

If you look in the line of making a enchanment a true strike weapon would only be like 1000?

... I just giggled a little bit. Apologies if you haven't heard of it, but this is considered a classic abuse of the magic item creation tables - or, more exactly, an example of how dumb they are.

Back to the OP, a reach/tripper is a viable option, but if you want to use that badass bastardsword, you won't be able to do it very well. Rather, you ought to power attack + true strike (tell the sorcerer to learn it or take a level and learn it yourself)

See if you can sub Improved Toughness for regular Toughness for your feat prereqs, if you're really set on that feat. I really don't have any other advice though, sorry!

Best of luck.

[Hurlbut]

In D&D 3.5ed you don't really need a tank since there's no mechanism to make the critters focus on the tank (like taunt thingies in MMORPGs).
Isn't that what the knight essentially do?

[only1doug]

<snip>
Rather, you ought to power attack + true strike (tell the sorcerer to learn it or take a level and learn it yourself)


True strike is range: Personal. The sorcerer learning it grants no benefit to anyone other than the sorcerer.

[JackQ]

Regarding the dragon....you state you need to "defeat" it to unlock your sword's power. That could be a opening your character could exploit. Is it possible for your character to win at something other than raw combat?
Chess? Tiddly-winks? Basket weaving competition? If the dragon is actively seeking you out maybe you can trick it into a competition....maybe game of hide and seek? I don't know just trying to help here.

[Mando Knight]

Isn't that what the knight essentially do?

Yeah, but when you're one of the mechanically weakest classes, being able to make opponents focus on you isn't that great of an idea...

[Reluctance]

What is the sliding scale of how the weapon powers up? Has it gotten better since the rogue snagged it, and do you expect there to be grades of power between now and when you finally take down the dragon? Even if you can't power the sword up fully now, you can beef it up as much as you can. Hopefully replacing that -5 with an actual plus. Talk with your DM about how you can power it up some even if you can't power it up to full just yet.

Do you know anybody else who'd be interested in playing? A new player can fill out a missing party role and add a little more oomph to your team. In fact, it sounds like most people have characters who mechanically don't match how they're actually being played. It might not be a bad idea to invite any potential newbies you want, sit everybody around a table, and discuss concepts/ideas before creating characters. A party of three or four characters all made in isolation is bound to fall into these sorts of traps. A party of three or four characters designed to match each others strengths and weaknesses, especially if those roles suit existing player personalities.

[MustacheFart]

Thanks, for all the advice guys.

Eldariel: Dust of sneezing and coughing, how much is it? It in the regular DMG?


As for retraining...I already built a whole other character or version of my character rather. I figure I got boned into playing melee after I already rolled its already fair. I also know I plan to work it!

See, I got to create my character's back story. The DM early on said we could create a back story for our character and he would implement it. Well, since the rogue kept complaining...about it being a dungeon crawl (even though he wanted one early on) and pretty much everything else like "I can't sneak attack! wah! wah! wah!", I figured I could at least have some fun story wise.


So, I wrote up a big character back-story. Basically I took most of Gutz and his life from Bezerk (Anime as it fit better with campaign that manga) and tweaked it to fit the campaign. I didn't finish because I wanted to give it in pieces to the DM as I wanted to see how he worked it in.

Basically, I'm the next "black swordsman" from a society known as "The Black Dragon Society", which is confirmed by my "special mark"; although, my character hasn't figured it out yet. The Black Dragon Society was a secret sect of human warriors who appeared and dominated the Warlock King 1,000 years ago when everyone thought all was lost.

Basically, they appeared during the last battle and it went like this:

All of the good factions (elves, dwarves, and good humans) we on one side ready to put up one last front against the evil forces of the warlock king on the other side (think revolutionary war battle formations kind of). The evil side kept mocking the pathetic good side with the usual, "It is futile to resist! yadda yadda".

Then a group of human warriors carrying banners depicting a Black Dragon appeared behind the forces of good. As they stepped forward through the resistance the usual awes, display of shock, and rumors occurred. People didn't realize they really existed (There's more behind them that I wrote but meh too long). Anyway, the evil forces were a little stunned but still were sure of themselves.

The battle started and both sides we dwindling but the forces of evil actually started to retreat. Then as new lines we formed, the warlock king rose up with an avatar of some diety (I forget the name of the god...but the avatar was a huge black dragon). The evil forces felt renewed and began to decimate the forces of good almost completely whipping out The Black Dragon Society.

Once again new lines we formed after the forces of good retreated some. Just then a single man cloaked in black stepped forward. The forces of evil laughed and the avatar boasted, "This is your last resort? Only one still has courage?" The man charges forward and begins to destroy the opposition slaying over at least 100 men (ya I had to add that element :smallwink:).

The forces of good now renewed charged forward led by the cloaked man who then single-handedly slayed the avatar and helped destroy the warlock king. He became known as "the black swordsman."

Years past...people forgot. Those who remembered the battle assumed both the Black Dragon Society and the black swordsman were gone forever.

Then I think about 100 years ago the warlock king rose again using a staff to control dragons. The Black Dragon Society did not appear but a lone swordsman weilding a huge blade cloaked in black did. From his efforts The Warlock King died but he was consumed in the battle as well.

So, basically after him you have my grandfather who was the next and then my father. Both of them died and my character never knew them as I copied Gutz's birth (born from a corpse). So, the DM has been introducing elements in.

Basically, I've heard of the Black Dragon Society and some of what they did. I've also found a statue that looks like myself as well as a huge stone carving/mural depicting a man that looks a lot like me striking down evil. When I found this, a elderly monk who was in the room (basement room in the church) hiding from orcs with the town children, gave me a piece of a crown (half an item to help unlock cursed sword). That was when THE black dragon first showed up but couldn't get in because of magic sealing the room (Dm knew I'd run out and kill myself rofl). He acid breathed and destroyed the town before leaving lol.

Anyway, figured I'd explain the story before I said how I'd retrain myself. I figure after I break the good prince and myself out of prison, kill the traitors, cure the king, and save the city (under siege by orcs), I'll work on who my character is. I can still write up how I finally realize who I am and I know how:

I'll have some great moment or epiphany happen which will lead me to finding the lost city and more importantly The remnants of the Black Dragon Society. At the point, I plan to write up a mentor who offers to train me in the ways after filling me in on my destiny. I'll then write up a couple trials but the last will be key. I'll have it be a test of faith. Specifically, I'm thinking that it will require me to impale myself with the cursed sword...killing myself. Then since this will have completed the trials I will be resurrected anew. Pretty good? Okay? Better ideas? I know I can get it allowed as basically I've been shafted the whole campaign. I mean the DM has been catering to me role-playing wise but that's only cuz I HAVE a story and more importantly I am keeping the game flowing/on track.


My question now is what should I go? It's core books as I mentioned. Other stuff isn't necessarily out but I need approval. I can guarantee ToB is out (can't ever find a DM to let me use it).

I could do a trip character. I've done spike chain fighters and the like before but they're kind of out of concept for the character I've created (story-wise). That said, I think I am looking towards a semi-stealthy (as in possibly sneak attack but mainly speed/maneuverability as Gutz was very good at this) 2-handed dpser.

As to feats, I was thinking, first of all, sack the whole damn strength of blood line (I've realized its kinda pointless as even rolling I'll have pretty damn good hp higher levels anyway). I was thinking working toward Rapid Blitz. Then getting combat Brute as well was a few others.

Basically, I was thinking:

1 Barbarian/2 Ranger/16 Fighter/??..1 Sorcerer maybe?
Stats:

Str*: 19 - 1 point from character lvl 4
Dex: 16
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 12
Cha**: 8

*switch dex and strength.
**switch cha and wis as no point in cha now since DM said I could add str to intimidate for free in place of cha

Feats:

-All the way up to Weapon Mastery (Slashing)

-Power Attack

-Improved Sunder (prereq for combat brute)

-Combat Brute

-All the way up to Rapid Blitz (like spring attack but can attack up to 3 times)

-Leap Attack

-Favored Power Attack

Ideas for other feats? I was also thinking of getting overpowering assault from PHBII Fighter Variant (sack level 16 feat).

As for gear, I'm thinking a switch from mithral full plate to a mithral breastplate. Also I've gotten the okay to pretty much design what the sword will do when I unlock it. Of course it has to be realistic and contain only qualities that are in books (no homebrew). He's said no to vorpal already so that should give an idea as to what I can get. I'm honestly thinking...+5 Mercurial Greatsword of Mighty Cleaving. I know its a hated weapon but **** I deserve it lol!

Also, I seem to roll a ton of 1s so would it be beneficial to take that luck feat that lets me count it as a nat 20 once per day? Would work well is x4 of Mercurial Greatsword.

------------------------------------

Now as for the big bad dragon. My DM is pretty cool about letting us do something if it is particularly badass and not to rediculous. Therefore, I'm thinking I "Link" the bitch!

Step 1) Get boots of Spider Climb, cloak of the mountebank( cloak that lets me dimension door), potions of improved invisibility, protection from acid, and protection from evil.

*Dragon shows up*

Step 2) Drink pots

Step 3) Use cloak to teleport up onto top of dragon's head

Step 4) Start impaling the sucka in the head! (Hopefully since the DM said he's so damn big, my boots would prevent me from falling off)

Step 5) Repeat Step 4

Now, the only problem I see, is DM not letting boots work, the Dragon's casting abilities, and the Dragon polymorphing (don't they all do that at will?).

I have a plan for that though. After I save the city, I can definitely get the above items but the king will owe me. So, I'll have his use his men to rebuild the orc siege weapons outside the main gates (I destroyed them already with sorcerer while riding a Pegasus). Then when the dragon appears (I can get him to as he wants the cursed weapon), the ready the weaponry to attack the dragon on my command. Of course, my command will be given only if I get in trouble lol.

I could have my two party members help but to be honest...**** them! I'd rather kill it alone... 1) It fits the character better. 2) They don't do ****. and 3) Its part of my character's story.

So, keep the ideas coming. I can pretty much retrain I just need to stick to character story-wise.

[MustacheFart]

What is the sliding scale of how the weapon powers up? Has it gotten better since the rogue snagged it, and do you expect there to be grades of power between now and when you finally take down the dragon? Even if you can't power the sword up fully now, you can beef it up as much as you can. Hopefully replacing that -5 with an actual plus. Talk with your DM about how you can power it up some even if you can't power it up to full just yet.

Do you know anybody else who'd be interested in playing? A new player can fill out a missing party role and add a little more oomph to your team. In fact, it sounds like most people have characters who mechanically don't match how they're actually being played. It might not be a bad idea to invite any potential newbies you want, sit everybody around a table, and discuss concepts/ideas before creating characters. A party of three or four characters all made in isolation is bound to fall into these sorts of traps. A party of three or four characters designed to match each others strengths and weaknesses, especially if those roles suit existing player personalities.

Yep, the sword will scale in power. I don't know how yet as it's still how it was when the rogue found it. Basically, to unlock it there are three conditions that need to be met.

1) Must find the hidden crown of the true king (I have one piece already mentioned in my post above and I know the general location of the other)

2) Awake the sleeping lady (Don't know who she is yet. DM said he already has it planned for how he wants me to do this)

3) Slay the Dragon that lays beneath (already met him once. DM said he will keep showing up trying to get me and we'll have to play cat and mouse until we're ready to fight him)

As for the characters:

We all rolled/built our characters together...how bad is that? I tried to get them to take stuff to compliment/help the other party members that way we could have a well-balanced tightly-fit group but they wouldn't have any of that. They already had specific selfish ideas in there head. At least the rogue did. The sorcerer is just a newbie new to casters who doesn't listen.

I am dead tempted to do what I did in another campaign which was:

1) Take Leadership
2) Get a gnome wizard cohort
3) Carry around new buff-bot...err...cohort in my backpack.

[woodenbandman]

Dude that DM is a whore. A -5 cursed sword in the Inn? heavily cursed object that the whole evil world is vying for the attention of, and it's sitting in Joe Sixpack's living room? That is a great example of punitive measures for things that are completely normal. The DM was pissed off that you could detect magic, so he hurt you guys for it. Had you killed that rogue, nobody would have faulted you.

[half eaten oreo]

It seems the sword is important to the plot and not just the DM punishing a PC. It does suck that it had to be a whole -5, and has not improved in 4 levels, but hopefully getting the crown will improve it to at least +1. If you manage to get the crown relatively soon you should be fine.

There seems to be little synergy between the PCs. That probably makes leadership for a buffbot a pretty good idea. Cleric or bard would seem to fit the party. I would probably concentrate my efforts in getting the whole crown, hopefully that negates all or most of curse.

[Eldariel]

Go for Whirling Frenzy-type Rage (in SRD here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy )), pick up Extra Rage [Complete Warrior] once or twice and enjoy the ability to actually use your Rage to a good effect (extra attack and AC - consider it a "combat focus" or something similar). Also, you could pick up Pounce. It does seem to be in character. Then I'd go for Shock Trooper, 'cause Heedless Charge is something every melee character wants in their arsenal for those really tough guys.

[MustacheFart]

Actually, the cursed sword wasn't meant to be part of the main plot at all.

He basically created it on the spot when the rogue with the help of the sorcerer stole it from the tavern. He then created the 3 steps to unlock it on the spot too. The DM's justification for it afterward was, "I made it like that just to add some flavor.." or something to that extent. Nothing like slapping a rogue with a sword that comes out on its own and embues him with a -9 penalty to hit (-5 curse + -4 nonproficiency).

In my eyes he did this:

"Oh you're a neutral rogue with the accompanyment of chaotic nuetral sorcerer and you decide to steal a magic sword in the inn?"

"A rogue stealing an item! I don't think so! Now suffer as it is a cursed weapon!"

The DM only made it part of the plot after I took it from the rogue to stop all the bitching and get the game back on track.

Unfortunately, that is an example of the DM's logic for his game decisions. If something is logical in "his mind" you better expect it. In fact it's really a miracle we haven't had a character death or TPK yet. Apparently, this is the first campaign he's done that didn't have at least 1 character death within the first 2 sessions. Most of our survival is due to the fact that I'm quite frankly smarter than the DM, which has allowed me to avoid fatal ramifications from his "logic"...really ONLY direct DM intervention could take me out.

The DM is a good friend of mine...he's just a querky weird S.O.B. which results in a cruel bastard for a DM. He's a good guy but a bad DM.

However, I think he's afraid to kill my character really. In fact, he's fudged a couple encounters just to avoid killing me (or the whole party for that matter) like for example, mobs who would not capture enemies alive trying to capture the party for questioning.

It's all cool...if my character dies I already have an "in". I'll just say screw melee and come back as a wizard. My story? I'm the young man who my first character gave his falchion too. I couldn't learn to use it so I said F*ck it and took up arcane arts. Then I'll spend my time doing everything I can to go against what he wants the party to do as part of the plot. Really he's so linear it'd be easy.

The sorcerer could have done it last session but didn't. We came up to 3 trolls and a human wizard. The wizard hands an item to the troll to take to the orc army. The sorcerer does fireball on em (smart as its fire damage) but afterward continues to do icestorm even after telling him if he just did a couple more fire spells they be gone ><..yah...

If it was me? Cast charm monster on one of the trolls (the one with the item). Have troll chuck item to us. Then have troll attack wizard. Charm another troll if needed. Have attack wizard. Loot wizard and leave. 1 spell defeats whole encounter. The DM wouldn't have been happy lol. Of course the sorcerer took purely damage dealing spells ><.

Instead? Wizard gets away through secret compartment, sorcerer gets choked unconscious by troll (he was on a cliff shooting down at the trolls but decided to go down to their level...ya he's that dumb), and then while I'm taking on 2 trolls single-handedly (other troll with item ran) wizard comes out and uses mass hold person. Result? Looted, buck-naked, and in prison lol.

I'm 2 for 2 lately with DMs. One black-balls me in a political intrigue game for doing behind the scenes scheming. The other gimps me out with insane logic.

Oh ya? Worst part? We haven't been to town since...ever...I don't think we even started in a town. So, we've got no chance to get supplies. Not only that but a few weeks back, the rogue who was in charge of keeping a list of all our party loot lost the list. He had it on his PC but got a virus and decided to reformat his whole comp without even backing it up. There went all of our loot. DM's call? Welp shouldn't have lost it...Tough luck!

My plan? Buy a portable hole and keep loot for myself from now on.

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So, now the real question is? Do I keep playing my character with the desire to find out his destiny? Or, do I react to the BS and do what I want to have fun even if it kills me?

I like the story and would hate failing to finish it but at this point I don't know.

[Another_Poet]

If your mage was able to reshape it to look like a stick, it can also be reshaped to look like a buckler. Do so.

Wear it on your arm and use your bow or a different 2H weapon, taking only a -1 penalty from wearing a buckler. That way you are still holding the thing/it is still bound to you/whatever but you don't take such a big penalty and have other options.

sp

[MustacheFart]

Another Poet: Thanks, that's actually a good idea. I'll try that but with my luck the DM will say, "Okay since its a buckler it provides the -1 to attacks but its also still cursed so it is a -5 buckler effectively, which mean you take a -5 to AC." or something like that.



Now I have a couple more questions for you guys/gals:


Question 1) The main enemies encountered in the campaign appear to be:

- Orcs (my rolled favored enemy)

and

- Dragons: We've enounctered 2 dragons 1 good, which I saved whom still owes me a boon and 1 evil and we've fought a few half-dragons. Also Dragon is the DM's favorite mob/species/race/etc.

That said, is there a good route to go feat/PrC-wise for taking on dragons? If a prestige class, how many levels and would it be worth it as opposed to just going straight fighter?

Question 2) I have a rogue party member who doesn't act like a rogue. He's basically all over the place and my character has decided he can't trust/rely on him. Now I have a sorcerer party member who possesses the following qualities/short-comings/disadvantages:

- He took Weapon Proficiency (martial weapons) so he could wield a falchion in combat.
- He runs in and faces guys that are super strong whom he should fight from a distance
- He picks purely damage spells
- He doesn't listen to any advice I give him
- Doesn't seem to understand basic strategy behind a caster

Given that, should I keep trying to "teach" him? It is his first caster/2nd Campaign. Or, should my character give up, use him where I can, and rely purely on himself? Should I keep acting as the glue for the party? Or should I go, "No more Mr. Nice Guy!..."?

Question 3) My final question is, kind of a loaded one. At what point do you give up your character's story and the hope of fun in the end upon completing it and just focus on having fun session to session? Basically, at what point do you decide session (not following DM's railroad plot) over campaign (following DM's railroad plot)?

[Another_Poet]

Another Poet: Thanks, that's actually a good idea. I'll try that but with my luck the DM will say, "Okay since its a buckler it provides the -1 to attacks but its also still cursed so it is a -5 buckler effectively, which mean you take a -5 to AC." or something like that.



In that case reshape it to be a normal bracelet, or something else that doesn't affect AC or to-hit.

Your DM should, by now, be just about as tired as you are of seeing you whiff with -5 all the time, and being a gazillion levels away from being able to break the curse. Hopefully the DM will reward some creative solutions, not punish them.

ap

[Kaiyanwang]

The only "tank-like" powers coming to my mind in 3.5 are:

The Goad feat

Knight class features

Crusader

Combat expertise + Allied Defence feat in shining south.

Anyway, i don't like so much this MMORPG way of think the fighters&co.

A "Tank" in D&D should "slay away" things from squishy party members. Just my 2c.